Fallout 3 is WAY better.

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I don't like how fallout 4 power armor doesn't let you equip unarmed weapons, I think it also slows down your max melee weapon speed, but I usually use a ripper.

just makes the whole class of weapons for unarmed worthless if you use power armor.

As for getting it early, meh, it needs fuel (actually it doesn't you are just encumbered without fuel) and repairs, I started learning to live without it, just leaving the broken suit in concord where I found it, eventually when I had some more sturdy suits and plenty of money/cores I started using power armor which breathed new life into the late game.

Power armor, in my opinion, has a lot of counter-veiling problems that make (ab)using it in early-game content less practical. Fusion cores aren't very common early on, even with the Scavenger perk, and both workbenches and components to repair power armor are equally scarce.

Another deterrent to using power armor, at least for me and at all levels, is how the game both essentially treats you as naked under it, thereby eliminating any gear bonuses that might still be applicable, and how despite being a "mecha" for all practical purposes functions more as a human augmentation device in that it yields a bonus to strength instead of giving you a flat strength value of say 15.

I don't have an issue with Bethesda making it available early in the game so much as I have an issue with it being done as a single, set-piece battle with no explanation given why the female lawyer PC is a better choice for using it than Mr. Coveralls or Sir Sendsyoutohellandbackanawfullotforhisownhealth NPCs. We don't even get an, "Well I haven't hacked it to bypass requiring a pre-war ID" sort of explanation which would have played off fairly well against several robots "recognizing" your pre-war status by your ID, though why a pre-war lawyer would be able to utilize military hardware would likely need its own explanation.

If there were later elements that required you to use power armor as part of other, similar set-piece battles such as a super mutant behemoth attacking Diamond City or Goodneighbor being swarmed by a bunch hundreds of feral ghouls that were released from a sewer or subway when someone excavated the wrong basement then it wouldn't be an issue. Power armor would feel like a vital, useful component of the game environment instead of just something you can take or leave and, when worn by NPCs, mitigate purely by shooting them in the fusion core.

Overall I'll agree that power armor in Fallout 4 is significant better than in Fallouts 3 and New Vegas, but because most of the points I've raised so far cancel each other out I'm left with the most basic of reasons. Power armor feels like power armor. Entering and exiting it takes time, moving in it feels ponderous and deliberate, and your footsteps resound to shake the very last cans of untouched dog food kept in the evidence lockup for some strange reason. Simply put, power armor has a weight, a gravitas, in Fallout 4 that's lacking in the previous games.

That said.

vladdarul posted...

New Vegas is better in every way than both 3 or 4, even looking at just the base game itself, not delving into mods.

Fallout 4 didn't have the green color tinting of Fallout 3 or yellow tinting of New Vegas. Fallout 4's engine provides superior graphics and support for modern hardware, though I suspect it's worse in terms of bugs. Fallout 4's weapon modding system is more robust and easier to get into than New Vegas' system. Stealth in Fallout 4, at least under Survival, feels fairly well-balanced in that even when shaving the dice in your favor it takes a bit of thought to be a chooser of the slain whereas in New Vegas you're a god in the core campaign and a gimp in the DLCs if you go heavily into stealth.

Then there's Fallout 4's lacking the invisible walls that Obsidian slapped up in parts of the core map to prevent you from bypassing story elements even though you can run right the f*** up to New Vegas at level 1 and without cheating or abusing game mechanics.

Fallout 4 might not be superior to Fallout New Vegas, though in all honesty I do like it more, but Fallout New Vegas is not better in every way by any possible stretch of the imagination. At the very least they tie on broken radscorpions in that New Vegas' scorpions can sometimes turn into tornadoes on death and fly away while they burrow through the ground and fall from the sky on death in Fallout 4.

Logic is the antithesis of faith, else why is it that faith defies logic while logic denies faith?

Intro: Fallout 3 vs New VegasNew Vegas is better because like all "true" RPGs your background and story is undefined, allowing you as the player to role-play and decide how they grew up before becoming the man/woman who was to deliver the platinum chip. It sets up the world perfectly because unlike Fallout 3, your character was born outside the vault and should have some sort knowledge of what's going on (hence the intro of NCR vs Legion).

In Fallout 3 it makes sense that you being born in a Vault that you don't get the same current world knowledge, forcing you to figure it out. But their decision to show most of your childhood without any major decisions to make you unique.. takes player choice away on role-playing who they want to be. From a roleplayer perspective its better to go New Vegas route and allow it to be undefined creativity.

Story: Fallout 3 vs New VegasFallout 3 story is very movie esque because its linear. Which is good and all.. But this is suppose to be a RPG not a GTA Apocalypse story. You get no role-playing decisions other than how you build your character.. Almost every single quest ends the exact same way no matter how you play it. Any and all decisions to help the Enclave (role-playing preference) are thrown under the rug. Sure you can poison the water supply and kill anybody who wasn't born in a Vault but that's literally 1 bare-bone-half-assed decision (that doesn't even effect the post ending world) vs 100 decisions that help the Brotherhood.

In New Vegas there are tons and tons of quests with multiple endings, then with added Reputation on top of everything allows factions to hate or love you depending on those decisions. If I help the Legion, it only makes sense that the NCR would hate me.. At least New Vegas gives me that CHOICE. The story acts are actually quite similar between the games.

**The First Act is finding someone and how to deal with them.Fallout 3's Finding your father and Eh.. Helping him? vs New Vegas's Finding your killer who you have two different times how to deal with. The first time you can hold him on trial with all the evidence you collected, outright murder him, let him go, or even sleep with him. The second time you get the choice of crucifixion, gladiator combat, execution, or you can forgive him and help him escape.**The Second Act is deciding who to help and how to help themFallout 3's Brotherhood.. Eh oh that's right, you don't get much of a decision in Fallout 3 vs New Vegas's 4 major pathways then to lesser extent the 8 or so minor Factions.**The Third Act is the major battle that determines endgame. Fallout 3's Battle for the Purifier, which you are FORCED to help the Brotherhood and it plays out exactly the same way every time you play it.. vs New Vegas's Battle for Hoover Dam, which you can help either side + the battle never plays out the same way, did the Boomers have their plane fly overhead and drop bombs? Did you convince the Enclave to show up in their Vertibird and drop off reinforcements? Did you repair the Artillery guns to help kill enemies? Did you terrify Legate Lanius the monster of the East into being utterly afraid of you? Oh you decide at the last moment to betray the NCR with your Securitron Army and throw General Oliver off the Dam to his death?.. Yeah.. Thought so.

Then the true endings.. this just comes down to personal preference. Me and a lot of others prefer closure in our stories, we want to know how our decisions have shaped the Mojave.. But because of the sheer amount of different possible endings you get, that would require a insane amount of development time to change the worldspace based on those decisions. Remember Obsidian originally wanted it to be a playable world after the ending but had only 18 months. They focused their efforts elsewhere. The slideshows were perfect in that regard.

Worldspace: Fallout 3 vs New VegasYour arguments of why Fallout 3 is better can be exactly replicated in New Vegas. You're being biased here... In New Vegas you have Hoover Dam, The Fabulous Vegas sign, Primm Rollercoaster, Goodsprings general store and water tower, Nellis AFB, McCarren Airport etc. The ghouls in the Subway can be replicated in New Vegas's sewers, the kid skeletons can be found in Vegas as well, there's even a locked room in Vault 22 with 3 spore carriers (former residents who suffered a Terrible pathogen) one of which is a baby runt.. Once you realize the crib in the room, it doesn't take a genius to put 1 and 1 together.

Side Quests: Fallout 3 vs New VegasLike another person said, the side quests are and in some cases just as important as main story. If you played New Vegas without doing even half of the side quests then I pity you. I do hand it to Bethesda though. I had more fun doing the side quests than main quest in Fallout 3. But again, New Vegas has epic side quests too! Who can't forget these: ***Arizona Killer - A epic assassination plot of the NCR President with multiple ways how to do so (or prevent the Assassination, your choice)***Beyond the Beef - Solving the creepy mystery in Ultra Luxe ***Birds of a Feather - Become a mercenary for Van Graffs with a epic (and heartbreaking decision)***Come Fly With Me - Ghouls going to space***Volare! - Raising the bomber out of Lake Mead***One for my Baby - Investigation into murder of Boones wife***For Auld Lang Sing - Bring back the Enclave Remnants for one last battle***Crazy, Crazy, Crazy - Fighting the remnants of the Masters Army from Fallout 1, seeing how insane they gotten after Unity was broken***Still in the Dark - Help decide the future of the Brotherhood***I Could Make You Care - Veronica's side quest

Of course NV has a few gameplay improvements, but that should be naturally since it came out two years after Fallout 3. But still it has the exact same engine, the same exact graphics, the same exact graphic assets, the same exact bugs and so one. How incredibly lazy is that? Is this EA or Obsidian?

Your arguments here are extremely ignorant. But I can't blame you too much, my guess is you know nothing of the development behind New Vegas. Let me help you understand... Bethesda went to Obsidian asking them if they wanted to help fill in the gap between Fallout 3 and their next game (Skyrim). They choose Obsidian because they were known to have some of the best RPG writers on staff and because they had a lot of former Fallout 1 and 2 Dev's. Bethesda told them they could make a sequel to the west coast storyline. Obsidian obviously accepted.

Now here's the issues.. Bethesda GAVE them only 18 months (not even 2 years) to make the base game. For comparison.. Fallout 3 took 4 years, Skyrim took about 5 years, Fallout 4 took 6 years. They were not allowed to upgrade the game engine in anyway and were told they could only use preexisting assets within that game engine... (Hence why the games look very similar). The fact they were only given 18 months, yet come up with 20,000 lines of dialogue more than Fallout 3 had and voice acting, make a story with so many branching decisions is a true testament to Obsidians work.

Obsidian originally had HUGE plans for the game and a lot of that was cut. Here's a few examples. The map was was suppose to expand more to the east giving Ceasars Legion some more spotlight and was to have quests about capturing Novac, Nelson, and Camp Forlan Hope. Once you captured those settlements they were supposed to spawn new NPCs that you could interact with. The Kings and Followers of Apocalypse were suppose to be MUCH bigger factions about uniting Westside, North Vegas, Freeside, and Eastside against the Strip Families. New Vegas city as a whole was suppose to be bigger with more settlements and even more side quests. One of which was the Eastside settlement surrounding the gunrunners, crimson caravan, and medical clinic that was cut out completely. The sewers were suppose to connect down to the SW Fiend Territory and had quests from Lucy Thorne to use her "pets" to drive them back.

So at the end, your little joke about EA/Obsidian? How about you redirect that towards Bethesda. Obsidian had no choice but to work with what they were given and to do so within only 18 months...